The Rural Voice, 2006-11, Page 16As the Ontario
Federation of
Agriculture marks
its 70th anniversary this
year, it's hard for most
modern farmers to realize
the impact the
organization has had on
rural Ontario over that
span.
While farmers now
tend to think of
themselves first as
members of Ontario Pork,
Dairy Farmers of Ontario
or the Ontario Cattlemen's
Association, rather than a
general farm organization,
some of those commodity
organizations wouldn't
have existed without the
efforts of OFA to get them
Doff the ground a half -
century and more ago.
The late Jim Powers,
member of the Ontario
Agricultural Hall of Fame
and secretary -treasurer for
the Bruce County
Federation of Agriculture
from 1948 to 1955, tells
the story of those early
days in his 1994 book A
Record of Achievement
(which itself was
sponsored by the Bruce
Federation).
The early years of the
Federation were in an era
when nearly every farmer
was a beef producer, pork
producer, dairy producer,
chicken and egg producer
and crop producer, so the
Federation, the only
general farm organization
of the era, was in a
position to work for all
commodities. In 1951,
Powers points out, there
were 60,272 farmers
shipping cream to 244
creameries. In 1945 when
the Farm Products
Marketing Board
registered all pork
producers for a vote on
setting up a hog board,
there were nearly 32,000
producers.
In 1940 when the first
Bruce County Federation
12 THE RURAL VOICE
YEARS
OF FARMERS
WORKING FOR
FARMERS
Looking back at the Ontario
Federation of Agriculture's historg
mag give lessons for todag
By Keith Roulston
of Agriculture was
formed, it spoke on behalf
of most of the
commodities, Powers
observed. In the case of
beef producers, it would
be the spokesperson for
the beef industry for
another 10 years.
During the Second
World War, the
Federation conducted a
survey of pork producers
to prove to the federal
government's Canadian
Bacon Board that if it
wanted farmers to increase
their pork production by
25 per cent to help feed
Britain, it would have to
pay farmers more money
since their costs were so
high they had been
shipping breeding stock.
The result was an increase
in prices that helped to
attain the increased
production.
It was the OFA which
organized meetings of
pork producers in all
counties in the province in
April 1941 to name
delegates for a province -
wide meeting of pork
producers to set up a
marketing operation.
The organization of the
dairy industry began with
the dairy committee
formed at OFA.
Ironically, the birth of
these commodity
organizations had its
origins in the birth of an
organization designed to
bring all farmers together,
a cry for unity that is still
heard today.
In January 1936
representatives of all farm
organizations in Ontario
came together to form a
provincial unit of the
Canadian Chamber of
Agriculture. That national
organization had been
formed the previous fall at
a meeting of 100 farm
leaders from across
Canada.
The Ontario meeting
included representatives
of the United Farmers of
Ontario and the United
Farmers Co-operative
Company Ltd.. both of
which had been formed at
an equally historic coming
together of farm
organizations in 1913. The
UFO would later form a
short-lived provincial
government in 1918. H.H.
Hannam was the first
president of the Ontario
Chamber of Agriculture. It
wasn't long before the
name was changed to the
Ontario Federation of
Agriculture.
By 1940, local counties
were setting up their own
Federations of Agriculture
with Peterborough being
the first. Bruce County
formed its local body that
year, after committees had
been formed to set up
Federations in each of the
townships who would
send representatives to the
County Federation.
In 1943 the first OFA
staff person to work as
field man was hired at
$5.00 per day.
Those ,meetings of the
township, county and
provincial Federations
were the foundation for
many progressive ideas
over the next couple of
decades.
An OFA committee
was struck to work with
the CBC on the Farm
Radio Forum program.
The Forum was a
remarkable combination
of an. adult education
project, which outlined
topics of vital interest to
agriculture for group
discussions and feedback
and social event that
brought neighbourhoods
together. Across Canada
12,000 people sat down
every Monday night
during the winter to listen
to the presentations, read
"The Guide" which gave
more information on the
topic, then hold their own
discussions. Each local